Scenery for swashbuckling actions!

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
Hey folks - need a little help for something I'm writing. What I need is a long list of items/scenery which could be used in combat to perform swashbuckling actions. Details of how they're used aren't necessary, just a list of things (indoors, outdoors, natural, man-made, what-have-you).

Here's my list so far - any suggestions for additions would be gratefully accepted! Please keep to things you'd find in a D&D setting, not a modern setting.

Thanks in advance! :)

Barrels
Banquet Table
Chandelier
Fire/Fireplace
Hanging Rope
Icy Patch
Ladder
Low Branches
Rapids
Sails
Slippery Slope
Stair Banister
Tapestry
Trampoline
Water Wheel
Windmill Blades
 

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Windows, balconies, ivy-covered walls, wagons, runaway horses, fruit stands, wheel-barrows, a large statue, empty suits of armor holding halberds.
 

Mobile obstacles where workers carry large panes of glass, huge mirrors or massive paintings. All of which, of course, someone is going through at some point.

Ornate above-ground tombs.

Luxurious barges.

Ships, including pirate ships.

Large multi-figure statuary.

Ornate fountains.
 

Here's a few odd ones to swash your buckle from the top of my head:

large orrery
taxidermied animals/fish
bell tower (ropes, bells, etc)
clock tower (belltower + humoungous gears and a really big pendulem)
drawbridge
baskets of marble like objects, like petrified eyes or ball bearings...or marbles
a box of fireworks
a circus tent
a rope maker, firework maker, rapier crafter, curtain weaver, tinker, or alchemist's warehouse
a large bakery busily preparing for a festival...large hot ovens, pastries, pots and pans, bags of flour
a hot air balloon (don't have them in your world, perhaps this is the first and only one...)
torture chamber complete with a rack, iron maiden, and pokers getting hot in a fire.
partially frozen lake, river, or moat
wax museum with vats of hot wax and paint, lifelike statues to hide amongst
pier
lighthouse
rafters of some temple, beer hall, or barracks



A suggestion on turning things up a notch for higher level environments: take a simple concept and brainstorm ways to make it more fantastic:

logs floating down a river
rocks floating down a river of lava
hibernating dire bears floating down a primal river through a lost valley
giant corpses floating down the river Styx.
 
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Entries in The Adventurer's Guide to Surviving Anything:

1. The Warrior’s Life. Advice for being a combat-oriented adventurer. Focus on different types of warrior, and how tactics are similar or different.
2. The Spellcaster’s Life. Advice for different types of spellcasters, and suggestions for different roles you can fulfill.
3. The Sneak’s Life. Advice for how to use stealth to your advantage, and general advice on knowing when to not get involved.
4. The Celebrity’s Life. Advice for how to use charm and charisma instead of combat ability. Suggestions to adventurers on creating their own style.
5. Group Tactics. The best way a group can fight foes is to focus on one at a time, since magical healing allows nearly-dead foes to come back if you leave them alone. However, suggestions for knowing when to split up.
6. Mobile Tactics. Tactics that make use of mobility, such as riding (and the drawbacks if only some are mounted), or running and letting your foes lag behind so you can pick off those at the front.
7. Evasive or Guerilla Tactics. Hitting and running. Finding and using cover.
8. Sun Tzu’s Art of War Advice. It’s classic. Just reprint it.
9. Done. Gear to Bring. Obvious.
10. Primary Openings. These are the things that you never forget to take advantage of.
11. Fighting Hordes. This is when the hordes are weak enough for you to take.
12. Fighting Things too Big for You. When to know to run, or how to beat huge monsters.
13. Surviving in Wild Locales. More general advice.
14. Exploring Dungeons and Caves. The primary early adventure.
15. Fighting Minor Undead. Early monsters.
16. Fighting Underwater. Another common event.
17. Aerial Combat. Well, first you need a way to fly.
18. Fighting Mounted Forces. Another hard thing to do.
19. General Grasslands.
20. Herd of Beasts.
21. Dust Storm.
22. General Forests.
23. High Canopy.
24. Quicksand.
25. Tree Village.
26. Inside a Huge Tree.
27. Brachiating through Vines and Branches.
28. General Wastelands.
29. Ancient Battleground with a ground too blood-soaked for life to flourish
30. Land of Noxious Fumaroles.
31. General Aquatic.
32. Eternal Whirlpool.
33. In a Pod of Whales.
34. Shark Feeding Frenzy.
35. Leech Pool.
36. Acidic Lake.
37. Vat of Chocolate.
38. General Mountainous.
39. Mouth of a Volcano.
40. Volcanic Eruption.
41. Ice Cliffs.
42. Rockslide or Avalanche.
43. General Subterranean.
44. Rain Tubes.
45. Hanging from Stalactites.
46. Crystal Caverns.
47. Fungal Fields.
48. Shardfields.
49. Swarm of Biting Insects.
50. Spider Den.
51. General Aerial.
52. Flying.
53. Falling.
54. Being Carried.
55. Weightlessness. Falling down bottomless pits.
56. Vaccuum.
57. Atop the Back of a Giant Bird.
58. Lighting Effects. Pitch Darkness, Bright Light, Dim Light.
59. Hazes. Mist and Fog, Dust Clouds, Smokes.
60. Wind. Various Intensities, Whirlwinds, Effects on Flying Creatures.
61. Precipitation. Rain, Snow, Hail, Flaming Debris, Acid Rain.
62. Miscellaneous. Lightning, Flocks of Defecating Birds, Living Precipitation, Temperature Hazards.
63. Pirhanas Swarms.
64. Army Ant Marches.
65. Rampaging Flock of Birds or Swarm of Bats.
66. Belly of a Whale.
67. Pit of Snakes.
68. Gator Pond.
69. Husk of a Colossus.
70. Residential or Commercial. Furniture, Windows, Doors, and Occupants. Forges, Armories, Shops.
71. Mansions. Hedge Mazes, Dance Floors (occupied and not), Chandeliers, Staircases, Kitchens.
72. Taverns. Bar Room, Stable, Bedroom, Hallways.
73. Libraries.
74. Done. Large Sailing Ship. Deck, Hold, Mast, Rigging. Hazards of whales and water elementals.
75. Canoes, Rowboats.
76. Bazaar.
77. Riot.
78. Army in Battle.
79. Leper Colony.
80. Highways.
81. Bridges.
82. City Streets.
83. Giant Gears of a Clocktower.
84. Multi-leveled Scaffolding on a Huge Statue.
85. Moving Train.
86. Giant Spiderweb.
87. Sinking Ship.
88. Mental Battlegrounds.
89. Horde of Zombies.
90. Room of Mirrors.
91. Multi-story Warehouse.
92. Astral Plane.
93. Ethereal Plane.
94. Planes of Air.
95. Plane of Earth.
96. Plane of Fire.
97. Plane of Water.
98. Positive Energy Plane.
99. Negative Energy Plane.
100. Plane of Shadow.
101. Plane of Madness.
102. The Fey Realm.
103. At the Mouth of a Planar Gate.
104. Antimagic Locations.
105. Sewers and Steam Tunnels.
106. Treasure Hoard.
107. Alchemist’s Laboratory.
108. Crushing Room with Wall Spikes.
109. Tightrope.
110. Narrow undergound river.
111. Giant Echo Chamber.
112. Belltower.
113. Windship in a Storm.
114. Great Cathedral.
115. Small Village.
116. Done. Fortunad Gypsy Camp.
117. Done. Carriage Chase.
118. Torture Chamber.
119. Collapsing Evil Fortress.
120. Evil Ritual Chamber.
121. Minefield.
122. In and On a Hot Air Balloon or Zeppelin.
123. Moving Mineshaft Carts.
124. On the Paddle of a Paddleboat.
125. Nymph, Druid, or Dryad Grove.
126. Pit Filled with Slime.
127. Bottomless Pit with only Stone Rods to Stand Upon.
128. Opera House.
129. On it. Masquerade Ball.
130. Negotiating a Deal at Dinner.
131. Rotating Room.
132. Surface of a Sun.
133. Haunted Forge and Armory.
134. Perilous Castle Full of Eager Virgins. Threats of dehydration and loss of precious bodily fluids.
135. On a Glass Floor Over a Bottomless Bit.
136. A Graveyard of Corpses Trying to Pull you Under.
137. Frozen Lake, Under and Over.
138. Going Down an Avalanche.
139. Trapped in an Avalanche.
140. In the middle of a Sporting Event.
141. In the middle of a Large Battlefield.
142. Orc Brothel. And other general brothel dilemmas.
143. Under Fire from Snipers.
144. A Flooded Prison.
145. Ladder-filled Barns and Haylofts.
146. Swinging from Ropes Along a Wall.
147. Fighting In Low or Reverse Gravity.
148. Fighting When You’re Entangled.
149. Fighting When You’re Drunk.
150. Fighting When You’re Dead.
151. Fighting When You’re a Deity.
152. Defending Your Dream Lair.
153. Summoning Extraplanar Creatures (and then quickly unsummoning them).
154. Tactics for Sentient Items.
155. General Advice for Choosing Companions.
156. General Advice for Solo Adventuring.
157. General Advice for Leaving Children as you Adventure.
158. Interpreting Prophecies.
159. Strange Tactics and Maneuvers. Lassoing creatures, pulling them in.
160. Cost-Benefit Analysis. Knowing when to sacrifice something to save another, like do you save your buddy, or destroy the artifact that will control the world?
161. Being a Hero. Guidelines as to what the benefits of being heroic are, and how you can be heroic.

The ones marked 'done' were already written up in the EN Gamer.
 


cupboard (to push people into and slam the door shut or even topple)
clothes line (to obscure vision and entagle with)
ceiling beams (to balance upon)
 

A warehouse stacked with crates of differing heights.
Loading cranes.
Docks.
Boarding planks.
A mill hopper.
Inside and around a mill, the water wheel. The axle of the mill in a woodmill.
I went to a water powered wood mill in Costa Rica, there was a metal axle at ceiling level that ran the whole length of the building. It had numerous lathes, saw contraptions, and woodworking tools linked to it; I only generally understood what I was seeing.
Lotsa lotsa table tops, chair pieces, table legs, end tables, laying around for use as hasty fighting implements...
Vat of steaming laundry water
 

Trellis
Flying butress
Baths
Gazebo
Lantern
Elevated sidewalk (w/ sewage in the streets below)
Carriage
Bales of hay
Grunion run (fishes on the beach)
Tortoise shells (if they're giant, may be used as stepping stones)
Sandstone cliffs
Barking seals with a mean bite
Flock of birds
 


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